In order to ensure that Operation Wallacea continues to have an influence on the way the reefs are managed in the Wakatobi Marine National Park, it is important to demonstrate to the local communities that there will be year on year growth in the numbers of visitors participating in research tourism on Hoga island in the National Park.  Uncontrolled growth in visitor numbers though will damage the environment of the island and local expectations of growth have to be moderated with an understanding that growth has to be planned such that environmental impacts can be controlled.  Operation Wallacea is therefore undertaking a series of studies looking at the current impacts of the visitors to Hoga island on different environmental aspects.  This study is designed to assess the impacts of solid waste disposal and accidental diver damage to the reefs from the current number of visitors.  In addition the current impacts will be projected forward to allow for increased numbers of volunteers over the next few years to determine whether either of these environmental aspects will limit growth.  

• To determine the waste streams produced by Operation Wallacea and their current disposal routes
• To quantify the waste streams and assess quantities of waste being recycled, incinerated or disposed of in voids
• To calculate the number of divers currently on each dive site
• To calculate whether diver damage at available dive sites will limit growth of projected numbers of visitors for the next few years

Primary data was collected through interviews, observations and measurements. The solid waste streams were determined and quantities of each type of waste (eg kitchen waste, bottles, cans) assessed by weighing each waste stream daily.  The disposal route for each waste stream was determined by interviews and direct observations.  A sample of twenty houses was chosen to investigate how much solid waste is produced at each of the volunteer houses.  Interviews were also conducted with house owners to investigate their own opinions and system for dealing with waste and observations  made to compare how landowners say they dispose of waste with the actual disposal route.

An analyses of dive records was carried out to determine how many dives each site is currently experiencing each year.

Initial results and proposed analysis

Initial research shows that Operation Wallacea is currently producing 16.4 kilos of waste per volunteer per week. Out of this 12.7 Kg is recycled, and 3.4 kg is either burned or is food scraps that are thrown in the sea. This is a very high rate of recycling and will be compared with other published rates from ecotour operators.  Only 0.3 kg of waste per volunteer per week is currently disposed of to void space.  The use of a limited resource such as void space is one of the factors that may limit growth and the quantities of waste that will need to be land filled if numbers increase as projected will be included in the final report.

Results from the investigation into the carrying capacity of the reefs show that Buoy 2 is currently used the most and has had 906 dives over the season.  However, published rates of numbers of dives required for accidental diver damage to show a significant impact on the reefs quote figures of 4000+ dives per site per year.

Report

A report entitled The environmental impact of solid waste disposal and accidental diver damage from Operation Wallacea will be produced by Steven Owen, University of Portsmouth by May 2002.